Florence
A Painted Dream

texts by M. Fantoli
illustrations by M. Manetti

“I was expecting this week in Florence with my parents and my brother to be a terrible bore, but it wasn’t at all. I really enjoyed it. We saw lots of interesting things and listened to all the stories they had to tell: about perspective, the Guelfs and the Ghibellines, the Grand Duke and his ‘aerial passageway’, the murder in the cathedral on Easter Sunday, the Etruscans, the Gothics, the Romanesques… no, no, those are kinds of medieval architecture! I’m bound to forget half of the things I learned.
Today we’re going home: we had to get up really early, and I’m exhausted! Mummy says we absolutely must stop on the way out of Florence to see one last church, St Somebody of the Highway… Funny name, I must ask for an explanation… But not now, I’m really dropping.”

For Clare and her little brother William, the long journey home starts here, on the outskirts of Florence. Here, also, an unexpected, strange adventure begins. Amused and knowing, Michèle Fantoli follows them as they retrace their steps through the streets and piazzas of the city: obvious destinations of mass tourism which are brought back to life by the curiosity of our young heroes and the sparkling brush of Marta Manetti. Sleep well, Clare!

The journey’s fifteen episodes are followed by an appendix full of details and tips on every place and character mentioned in the book.